Industrial Ethernet for In-ship Communication
The revolution in ship technology that started in the 20th Century progressed steadily with each passing decade. In recent years, in-ship communication has received a boost from the trend of using Ethernet networks to integrate the operation of distributed communication systems on ships. Using Ethernet to integrate in-ship communication systems is a breakthrough that provides centralization of information and an easing of management tasks. In the following paragraphs, we discuss the traditional control systems that are responsible for a variety of operations on a ship, and the trends to integrate most control systems for ships into one network.
Challenges of Managing Traditional Control Systems
In modern shipbuilding, the hydraulic systems, electrical control systems, and automatic control systems play important roles in different facets of ship operation, whereas low-pressure air control systems have been gradually phased out. The existing primary control systems are distributed around the ship to control different operating functions, such as the electrical system, air-conditioner system, damage control system, fuel system, propulsion system, auxiliary equipment, radar system, sonar system, radio system, guidance system, emergency system, warning system, and weapons system (for warships). Each control system is required to be connected with an independent HMI or SCADA for control and monitoring.
Distributed systems on ships are inherently highly complex, involve different operating standards, and require a lot of manual labor to operate and maintain. The main problems of traditional in-ship operation and communication are that distributed system control and monitoring leads to a big crew size and complicated workload requirements, and consequently the high cost of recruiting well-trained crews to manage the different systems on the ship. The only way to solve this kind of problem is to incorporate an integrated network that coordinates the transmission of automatic control and monitoring information from a ship's main systems to the control center.
Industrial Ethernet Solution for In-ship Communication
Automation control equipment and devices have replaced many conventional systems that were previously used on ships. An increasing number of automation control manufacturers, such as PLC and field I/O manufacturers, now produce products that come with a built-in Ethernet interface. In fact, Ethernet has become the solution of choice for networking a ship´s automation systems. The automation control systems work together with the Ethernet communication network to reduce the workload and crew size on the ship by automatically transmitting distributed operation and control information to the control center.
Industrial Ethernet benefits automation on ships in six primary ways:
Centralized control and management
Smaller crew size
Easier maintenance and management
Affordable bandwidth with a variety of media choices
High flexibility
Future expandable and upgrade-able